Revelation
by LiveLaughLoveReadForever
Summary: "Yes, Christine, I love you. I love you so much it hurts! I would kill for you! I would die for you! I love you so much that it kills me inside. It destroys what little bit of sanity that I have left, yet it gives me something to hold onto. You bring so much pain into my life, yet you light up my soul and I don't know how I would live without you."


Tossing her hair over her shoulder, Christine fell instep with her best friend Meg Giry. Ever since Christine had gotten noticed by the Opera Directors the two girls had started to drift apart- starting with the fact that they no longer shared a room.

Christine was the one who had suggested that the two have a sleepover and Meg had eagerly agreed. The two were heading to Meg's room that she had recently been assigned when she had been promoted to prima ballerina.

After letting Christine and herself into the room, Meg kicked off her shoes and flopped backwards onto her bed. She glanced at her friend who was awkwardly standing by the now closed door. Meg rolled her eyes and patted the space on the bed. Christine carefully placed her shoes next to the door and sat down next to her friend on the bed.

"Christine, I haven't heard much about what's been going on in my best friend's life!" Meg complained, "So tell me; what has been going on?"

Christine didn't answer immediately. Instead she pondered the answer. As much as she wanted to tell Meg about her tutor, she knew she couldn't betray Erik's trust like that.

"Well," she said, forcing the words out, "I think I'm in love."

It felt amazing to finally say the words that had been on the tip of tongue throughout the last few months.

Meg, on the other hand, fell off the bed. She brushed herself off and sat down across from Christine. "What? With who? Since when?"

"I don't know if I'm actually in love...Meg, have you ever been in love?" Christine asked, not responding to her friend's questions.

Meg glanced around guiltily, almost as if she was afraid her mother was going to burst through the doors at any moment and find out her daughter's secret, but her eyes were sparkling with excitement. "Yes, I have. I'm in love right now!"

Christine couldn't contain the startled gasp that she let out. She couldn't believe that Meg hadn't told her sooner! Who had stolen the beautiful dancer's heart? Why hadn't Meg told Christine sooner? Why hadn't Christine noticed that Meg had all of the signs that someone who was in love had about them? Signs that Christine herself were giving off.

"Who?" Christine asked quickly.

Meg sighed and all the former excitement left her eyes, replaced by a sadness no one could comfort. Christine recognized the sadness all too well. Her sadness had only been lifted when she had found out that her angel was actually a human. She sighed as she remembered how heartbreakingly sad it was when she had thought that Erik was an angel that could never love her.

"It doesn't matter," Meg said, "We can't be together anyway. Plus, he doesn't like me the way I love him..."

She trailed off and glanced at Christine who was looking at her sympathetically. "Meg...What does it feel like...to be in love?"

Meg smiled sadly, her eyes lighting up a bit as she told her friend about the way it felt to be in love. "It's amazing. When you see that person-or even think about them - you get butterflies in your stomach and your heart races. They make you happier than you have ever been in your entire life. You feel freer than you ever have felt before and you feel like you're running towards something no one can see.* You just want to be with them every second of everyday for the rest of your life and you know...you know that that wouldn't be enough time."

Christine stated at her best friend. It was true. That was exactly how she felt. She was really in love.

"Oh my god...I'm in love," Christine whispered, putting her hand to her mouth. Meg's face broke out into a huge smile her sadness momentarily gone and she grabbed her friend's hands. She pulled both of them off the bed and began jumping up and down, attempting to get Christine to join in. At first she just stood there staring at her friend, but after a few moments of frozen silence from Christine, she began to loosen up and started jumping with her friend. A bubble of laughter escaped Christine's throat and within moments the two girls were hilariously laughing as they reveled in the sensation of being in love.

And for a moment Meg believed she could actually have a relationship with Victome de Changy and Christine believed she could have the courage to tell Erik how she really felt.

The next day after rehearsals Christine walked into her dressing room, looking forward to her lesson with Erik. Christine was in a especially good mood and she couldn't wait to talk to the man she loved. The mirror opened, just like it did every other day, but Erik's whole demeanor was different. He looked like a strange combination of heartache and uncontrollable anger.

"Erik?" asked Christine, sensing his mood.

"Yes?" he snapped, but the layer of sadness was unmistakable underneath his irritation.

"Are you alright?" Christine asked quietly reaching out her hand towards his. He jerked his hand backwards and his gaze averted towards the ground. He didn't notice the hurt look on her face as she felt the sting of rejection.

"I'm fine," he snapped before turning and leading her through the darkened labyrinth. She stumbled to catch up with him and had to practically run to keep up with his long stride. When they finally arrived at the boat, she was out of breath and her chest was heaving.

She was quiet happy to get to sit down as he slowly pushed the boat towards his house. Christine noticed how sad he looked and started to reach out to put a comforting hand on his shoulder before she remembered how he had pushed her away earlier and her hand dropped down to her side.

"We're here," Erik said gruffly, stepping off of the boat. He helped Christine onto shore, just like he always did, but there was difference in the way he did it.

He led her inside his house and they sat down beside the beautiful organ. After a quick glance at the girl beside him, Erik began playing one of the arias from the upcoming opera.

Christine already knew the lyrics and quickly began singing along. As she sang she watched as Erik played the melody with a sad smile on his face. Christine felt her voice crack as she felt the overwhelming urge to comfort him and the strength of his unknown sadness overwhelmed her.

"No, try again!" Erik snapped immediately. Christine flinched and repeated the song, but her voice cracked again because of how forced her voice was.

"Try again."

This went on several times before Christine finally had enough of him snapping "try again" towards her.

"Erik!" she finally screeched, "Why are you upset with me?"

Erik looked at Christine, anger flaring in his eyes. "Why? Why? Why?" He laughed cruelly for a moment before the anger in his eyes faded into sadness and his body went limp. He whispered it this time. "Why? Christine... Christine, can't you see?"

Confused, Christine titled her head to side, "See what?"

Something in him seemed to snap and he lunged forward, grabbing her forearms tightly. She didn't struggle against his grasp, she was long past being afraid or disgusted by his touch. "Can't you see, Christine! Can't you see how I want to rip the head off of the boy who has claimed your heart? Can't you see that I want to be the only one who has ever held and the only one who ever holds your heart? Can't you tell how much I love you?"

Christine tensed in his grasp at the words. His grip had tightened on her arms and he now finally noticed his grasp. He unleashed her and jumped back, terrified that he had hurt her.

Christine's heart was racing and a huge smile had started to form on her face. She had often wondered if he did feel for her, he often hinted of his love for her, but he had never come out and said the exact words.

"Erik," Christine breathed stepping towards him, "Do you mean that? Do you really love me?"

With an air of sadness and defeat, he nodded. "Yes, Christine, I love you. I love you so much it hurts! I would kill for you! I would die for you! I love you so much that it kills me inside. It destroys what little bit of sanity that I have left, yet it gives me something to hold onto. You bring so much pain into my life, yet you light up my soul and I don't know how I would life without you. You hold too much of me for to life without you. Without you, I would lose my will to life. But it doesn't matter, does it? Someone else already owns your heart."

Christine felt tears slide down her cheeks, but didn't bother to wipe them away. He...loved her. He actually loved her! And he told her! She stepped forward and before she knew it, she ran through the space that separated them and threw herself into his arms. She felt his arms hesitantly raise as if to embrace her in return, but they fell back to his sides as if he was scared of scaring her away.

"Oh, my darling Erik," breathed out Christine, burying her face closer to his chest. She felt his hands rise up again and cautiously, awkwardly place them on her back. She couldn't help but notice that his hands were violently shaking.

No one had ever hugged him before. No one had ever touched him before unless it was to beat him senseless. His own mother hadn't even dared to hug.  
"Why...why...Why are you doing this?" he asked his voice shaking almost as badly as his hands. "Don't you have someone else you would rather embrace? What about your precious Victome?"

He made no move to exist her embrace, though.

Christine shyly raised her head so she was gazing into his beautifully mismatched eyes. "There is no one in the entire world I would rather be sharing an embrace with than you."

Erik was silent as her words sank in. What did she mean? Did she truly care for him? Erik shook his head softly, believing himself to be reading too far into her words. No one could truly care for him.

"Christine," Erik breathed reveling in the bliss her embrace gave to him. "Why must you do this to me?"

She looked up at him with wondering eyes. Was she causing him pain? She didn't want to cause him pain and would willingly let him go if it meant that he wouldn't experience any more pain by her hands. Even though the warmth she felt in his hold was amazingly splendid.

"Why must you give me so much joy only to rip it away from me?" Erik said, answering her unasked question.

"Rip it away from you?" echoed Christine.

"Yes, rip it away from me. I know you will. You will remember who you are holding and you'll recall the monstrous face underneath the mask and you'll flee towards the surface finding yourself in the arms of the man you told Meg about. The man you love," Erik explained with a sneer. He spat the final line out with venom in his voice and he pulled Christine closer to him.

Christine didn't protest and leaned her head against his chest, listening to the thumping of his heart. Even that was musical.

"Oh Erik," Christine said, "I won't run from you. I will never run from you. I am not afraid of your face."

Christine wished she could just say the three words that were on the tip of her tongue, but they were stuck there and wouldn't come off. Erik sighed at her words as he pictured the bliss of Christine looking upon his face and not having disgust written on her features.

"Yes, you will. The memory of it has begun to fade so it doesn't seem as awful as it truly is in your mind," replied Erik.

Christine looked up towards him, her eyes filled with pity and something else. Was that...love? Erik shook his head at the very idea of her loving him. That would entail to much hope, if he even thought about the idea. Hoping, he knew, was dangerous. Because having your hope shattered is just as painful, or possibly even more, as getting lashes.

"Erik," Christine breathed reaching up and caressing his exposed cheek.  
"Your face doesn't disgust me. I-"

The words were almost out of her mouth before she quickly shut her mouth, cutting off the rest of the words. Erik barely noticed her strange statement, he was too busy watching her hands which were now moving deliberately towards his mask with wide frantic eyes. He wanted to stop her. He wanted to stop her so badly. He knew that once she revealed his face to her prying eyes again she would run away from him in disgust and that she would never return. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't move his hands from where they were placed around her back. Trying to relish the bliss of holding her against himself before it was gone forever, he closed his eyes, also hoping to not have to see the revulsion in his love's eyes once more.

He didn't want his final memory of her to be filled with her disgust filled eyes.

Bracing himself, he felt the cold air blow against his deformed cheek. He waited to feel Christine tear herself from his grasp, waited to hear the sound of fleeing footsteps, but neither happened. He opened his eyes a bit and saw Christine staring up at him with glistening eyes filled with...admiration? love? No, no he must be mistaken. He saw her hand stretch out towards his face and instantly flinched. His face had been subjected to too much pain and torture to be able to trust even her to not hit him.

Christine's hand recoiled, as her heart twisted as she guessed the reason for his flinch.

"I won't hurt you," she whispered. Erik hesitated, but gave a small nod of agreement. She seemed to understand what he meant and stretched out her hand again.

Her hand hovered above his cheek before she delicately pressed her hand onto his cheek.

He gasped at the sensation. It was like nothing he had ever experienced in his entire life. No one had ever dared to touch his face without causing complete harm to the skin. To feel her hands delicately caressing his cheek without a hint of disgust was almost too much for him to bare. He nuzzled his cheek into her hand with a quiet moan that he couldn't contain. The feeling that her hand against his cheek gave him, shook him to his core. It was the best feeling in the world.

Christine was enjoying the feeling of his face against her hand. At first it had felt weird, each contour of his marred face pressed against her hand, but it felt good. She moved her thumb a bit and started stroking his cheek.

Her gaze was attracted to his lip. His lip wasn't excluded from his deformity, but she found it slightly attracted. They looked so dreadfully soft and she longed to touch them. Before she could help herself she moved her hand ran her thumb over his upper lip. She smiled as he shuddered at her touch. The corners of his mouth was turned up in the ghost of a smile.

As she stroked his face, she stood up on her tiptoes and, without thinking, pressed her lips to his cheek. His hands, which had been shaking before, began shaking almost violently. He moaned as he felt her soft lips against his face. It was so pleasurable that it was almost painful for Erik.

Without a second thought, Christine slowly began pressing kisses down his cheek, earning a shiver each time. Oh, how Erik wished he could just let go and kiss her! The sliver of self-control he had left was the only thing that was keeping him from grabbing her and pressing his lips against her.

With a nervous breath, Christine pressed her lips firmly on his. Erik gasped and he felt tears falling from his eyes. Christine, his Christine!, was kissing him. She was willingly kissing him. His first kiss... His tears began to fall faster. Christine pulled back and looked, worriedly, at him.

"Erik, what's wrong?" Christine breathed, wiping his tears off of his face.

"Nothing, Christine, nothing at all," he smiled broadly at her and Christine realized that even with his deformity he was beautiful. She responded with a smile as well and his eyes watered with more tears.

"Erik, I love you," Christine said. The words were out of her mouth before she even knew she had said them.

The reaction the words had on Erik was incredible. Tears started falling even faster. No one had ever told him they loved him, or even acknowledged that they cared about him. To hear the words from Christine's mouth felt like a dream come true.

He fell to the ground and kissed her skirts, proclaiming his love for her the whole while.

Christine smiled and sank down to be level with Erik. With a smile, she pressed her lips against his again. At first he didn't know how to respond and she felt his hand go from resting on her shoulder to her elbow to her waist, but he left them on her waist and pulled her closer to him.

Tilting his head, hoping to get closer to Christine, he gave a low moan as she happily obliged and scooted closer to him. She stroked his face again causing him to moan low in his chest and raise his shaking hands to her face and slowly caressed her face.

Christine slowly opened her mouth and let her tongue drift over his bottom lip. She had heard the older chorus girls often talking about kissing people with their tongues and how wonderful it was. Christine had never understood why people would enjoy that until she touched Erik's lip with her tongue.

Erik felt something brush against his lip and after a moment of wondering what the heck it was he came to the realization that it had to be her tongue. He was shocked for a moment before he cautiously open his mouth.

Their tongues began a very awkward fight for dominance- almost as if new time dancers were trying to dance the tango and somewhat succeeding. Well, it worked for them.

When they finally pulled back for air, Christine pressed her forehead against his and smiled. "I love you."

"I love you too, Christine. I love you more than you shall ever know.".

She smiled and pressed her lips lightly to his again. When they pulled apart again, he made a careful observation.

"You taste like strawberries," Erik pointed out, his voice huskier than usual. Christine turned scarlet, but there was trace of a smile on her face.

She grabbed his hand and pulled him up, and together they walked towards their new life together.

* * *

That night Christine offered the idea that Erik could sleep in her bed (even though it was "improper") since his bed was a coffin. A good night's sleep was exactly what Erik needed and she doubted that sleeping in a uncomfortable coffin would supply that.

Erik had warily agreed, but now as they laid together he was thankful for the suggestion. He was holding her tight in his arms, hoping that he would never have to let her go. He buried his face in her hair for a moment, feeling at peace. He looked up though when he heard her slowly start singing.

She looked embarrassed as she sang, almost as if she was afraid that he would laugh at her attempt the lullaby. She was trying to sing him to sleep, trying ease some of the stiffness he held by singing a lullaby that her father had often sung her to sleep with.

_Deep_ _in the meadow_  
_Under the willow_  
_A bed of grass_  
_A soft green pillow_

_Lay down you head _  
_And close your eyes_  
_And when they open the sun will rise_

_Here it's safe and here it's warm_  
_Here the daisies guard you from every harm _  
_Here your dreams are sweet_  
_And tomorrow brings them true_  
_Here is the place where I love you_

_Deep in the meadow_  
_Hidden far away_  
_A cloak of leaves _  
_A moonbeam ray _

_Forget your woes_  
_And let your troubles lay_  
_When again it's morning they'll wash away_

_Here it's safe and here it's warm_  
_Here the daisies guard you from ever harm_  
_Here your dreams are sweet _  
_And tomorrow brings then true_  
_Here is the place where I love you. _

_Here is the place where I love you_

"That was beautiful, mon ange," said Erik, pressing a kiss to her forehead, when she was finished singing.

"Thank you," replied Christine with a smile. "Good night, Erik."

"Good night. I love you."

"I love you too."

* * *

_Hey guys! :) I hope you liked this one-shot! I had fun writing it. It's shorter than my other 2 Phantom fics but I still like it. _

_* If you know where this line is from you deserve a hug...and virtual cookies...and an Erik doll...AND - Just tell me where you've heard this line from if you think you know it. _

_If you know where the SONG is from (the song Christine sings to Erik) tell me and then you'll deserve a cookie and a hug and a Erik doll and...yeah.  
_


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